A Wrote For
by FellStroke
Summary: Even if everyone had already given up, he won't. He will find his brother Gilbert no matter the cost, even if it meant working with an insufferable, bothersome, and pestiferous memories doll. Read the retelling of a story of Violet if she had never been alone in her adventures.
1. A Wrote for the Sergeant

A Wrote for the Sergeant:

* * *

"Hello, brother dear, how *not* nice it is to see you again." Sarcasm spread thick in the sickly sweet tone he used to address the other man.

"Now, now. Don't be that way." Replied another voice, sounding both genuine and high-handed at the same time. "After all these years, you still can't stand me?"

At that, all pretences of a civil conversation flew out the window. "What do you want, Dietfried? If all you're going to do is waste my time then-"

"—I have something that might help you in your investigation." Dietfried interrupted nonchalantly, accustomed to the other man's brusque way of speaking and not caring for it.

"What?" Was the surprised reply.

"Look, I want to find Gilbert just as much as you do, and I, as the eldest, want to do my part by contributing to your search."

He could have replied in any number of ways all scathing and bitter towards how fake his brother's words were, but he was desperate for a lead and didn't bother anymore. "What do you have?"

"A girl," He handed over a photograph that captured a troupe of cadets; red marker circling around a scruffy-looking girl in particular, "might very well be the last person to see Gilbert alive."

The corners of his nose rose in a slightly annoyed look. "He's not dead, Dietfried."

"Yes, so you keep saying, but until you bring him home, he is still marked MIA."

"Missing is *not* killed. There *is* a difference." Persisted the younger of the two.

From the large window he was standing in front of, Dietfried simply waved him off before walking back to his seat. Positioning himself behind the large office desk, he gestured in the map laminated to the table with glass.

You will find this girl in a hospital over at Enciel, somewhere in Telsis' Bread Basket…"

* * *

His boots crunched over the loose gravel as he slowly strode towards the establishment that supposedly represented both healing and safety, but actually was just a place that smelled funny to him, like antiseptic and broken dreams. "Hehe." He chuckled without a morsel of humour.

* * *

"…I place her under your command-"

"—Excuse me, what?!" He hadn't been expecting that and it showed in the level of vehemence he used to protest. "I never agreed to-"

"—You will find out what she knows. You will use her and discard her like the tool she is-" Dietfried carried on unhurried and unhindered, each word sounding sterner than the one before.

"—with all due respect, _your majesty_-"

"—and under no circumstances will you feel sympathy for this woman, Noah Bougainvillea. In doing so, you will surely die. I already lost one brother to that monster; I will not lose another."

Knowing very well that he no longer had a say in the matter, Noah held his tongue. Gritting his teeth and sneering at his brother, all that he could do. He was, after all, the higher ranking officer.

But the younger Bougainvillea did manage to hiss, "Just what do you think you're playing at you son of a-"

"Might I remind the Sargent that we have the same mother?"

He absolutely hated how his brother sounded smug just then. Noah growled.

"Be advised that this woman is highly dangerous; discretion of the utmost is recommended." For a second, Noah thought that he almost sounded concerned when he told him that, but it was quick to vanish when he finished their discussion in a falsely exuberant tone much too obvious to be considered genuine. "Now then," he sat down on his high-backed chair and made sure to look extra comfortable to annoy his little brother further just as proper big brothers should, "you have your orders. Dismissed."

Noah didn't even bother on soluting; he just did an abrupt about-face and preceded to stomp out of the room.

"And as always, so nice seeing you again, No-"

The door slammed shut with a loud bang.

"—ah" Dietfried shook his head in amusement. Now let's see how this little plan of his played out.

* * *

After dragging his feet the entire way to reach the door, Noah stood in front of the hand-carved mahogany and raised his hand to knock, but before he did, "Damn, I really hate that guy…" He cursed, and the only sound to comfort him was the lone chirping cicada. "So annoying."

* * *

If you guys want to know what Noah looks like, just visit my DeviantArt page under the same name.


	2. A Wrote for the Lieutenant

A Wrote for the Lieutenant

*Knock knock knock*

Why did a hospital have its doors closed in the first place? Noah didn't even know, but just the same, they both opened, and a woman in a nurse's uniform stepped out to greet him. "Why, hello there. How may I help you?"

His innermost thoughts groaned for the proverbial nth time that entire morning. 'How may you help me, indeed.' He lamented. "Yes, I'm here for this girl." He showed her the picture his brother gave him.

The nurse leaned in to get a closer look, and her eyes shone with recognition. "Oh, Violet! You must be with lieutenant Hodgins. Please, right this way."

'So Violet, huh? Not the most threating name to give a *highly dangerous* weapon.' Come to think of it, Dietfried, the lazy bum, never mentioned him any names. 'Wait a minute, did she just say Hodgins?'

Noah didn't get the chance to correct her, nor did he intend to. This was not part of the mission parameters, and as a seasoned investigator, he knew that the best thing to do when things didn't go according to plan was to simply observe. Who was this other party interested in the weapon? Hm.

Noah followed the nurse inside, and after climbing up a few steps, he began to hear voices.

"The Major, where is Major Gilbert?"

Noah was immediately attentive and stopped just outside the door. Was that Violet? 'She sounds so young.' Noah couldn't help but think. When he saw the nurse about to turn the doorknob to let him inside the room, he stopped her by gripping her wrist. The woman winced at the vice, but he didn't care; he needed to hear this.

"He's, uh, not here."

He knew that voice. Could it be *that* Lieutenant Hodgins?

"Where is he? Did he return home already? How are his injuries doing anyway? I know they were pretty severe… Tell me, is the major actually… alive?"

What is this? Dietfried assured him that the girl would know something. It turns out she was about as clueless to his brother's whereabouts as he was. Three days worth of travel for nothing. "Another dead-end…" The tired man's whisper feathered into the sterile air.

"Um, sir?"

The conversations continued.

"Well he's-"

"You are being discharged from the hospital."

A third voice spoke, another nurse most likely, and Noah couldn't help but frown at the interruption. 'Huh, well that was random.'

"S-sir? Your hand…"

"Lieutenant Hodgins came all this way to pick you up, you know."

'Oh, did he now?'

Unannounced, Noah entered the room, and everyone turned to face him. Hodgin's eyes widened when he recognized who he was, and was just about to salute. However, before he could, Noah raised his hand to stop him. "Just came to observe, Hodge. You just keep doing what you're doing there. Don't mind me." The Sergeant walked over to a corner and leaned."

Looking on, he could see the discomfort in the eyes of his fellow redhead. 'He's hiding something.' His gut told him but chose not to comment.

"I-I'm sorry, but is he not with you, Lieutenant?" Asked his guide unsure now of who exactly did she just let in.

The poor man looked strained just answering the question, so Noah decided to help him out and maybe ease his worries some. "I am, aren't I, Hodge?" Noah smiled toothily, a silent white flag that showed that he wasn't there to cause any trouble.

Hodgins' shoulders noticeably slumped in relief before returning the gesture, albeit more subdued. "Yes. Yes, he is."

"Excuse me, Lieutenant Hodgins." Their eyes turned to Violet as she stood up with some difficulty but still managed a passable salute.

"Violet, relax."

Noah let them talk, as he sat in his mindscape taking the opportunity to decode everything about the girl in front of him. 'Injuries: light bruising and lacerations suggest close proximity to explosives. Favouring her left leg a bit, most likely from muscle degradation due to lack of movement, not injury. It looks like she hasn't been in this hospital too long, however, if her scabs are anything to go by. It *was* enough for her muscles to slightly atrophy though. That puts her around two, no, three months of recovery.'

'Bandages on arms — burns perhaps?" His brow knitted in worry. 'Jeez, if she's this banged up after the battle, then what about Gil-' The Sergeant shook his head before he could finish the thought. 'No, I can't think that way. Just… focus on the objective. Info, need more info.'

"Anyway, I was wondering if you actually remember me."

"Yes, we have met twice before: during the training, and the night before the battle.

'*The* battle, Intense… Gilbert's last known campaign. She might know something after all.' Noah could only hope. 'Her memories seem to be intact, at least; head wound inconsequential. There should be no problems interrogating her later.'

"What were you doing before we came in?"

"I was falling to the floor."

The Lieutenant understandably laughed. He would have too if he hadn't noticed how the girl's eyes never changed. She wasn't even trying to joke. She was just stating a fact and actually looked bewildered as to why Hodgins was laughing. 'Emotional quotient and social skills, abysmal. It's like a toaster raised this kid. Hm.'

"No, no. Before that."

"Oh… I was writing a report to major Gilbert. They said that writing words down would help improve my condition a great deal."

Condition? So they weren't burns, after all, otherwise, she shouldn't have been able to hold a pen, much less write a report. Noah's eyes squinted at the bandages harder to try and figure out what was underneath.

And his breath caught when he managed to put two and two together.

Unconsciously his arms crossed tighter over his chest. 'She moves like she doesn't even know her own arms.' He thought while clenching his left fist to ward off the ghostly feel of a hand he knew wasn't there, The one leather glove he wore groaned against his metal grip. 'Could it be?'

"So how is the Major?"

Thankful for the distraction, Noah's gaze shifted towards Hodgens this time, and with but a glimpse concluded one thing, that he should never play poker. Like, ever. He had more tells than a double homicide facing nill to kingdom come.

"Yeah, how is the Major, Hodge?" Noah smirked at how the guileless man's eye twitched. 'Hmpf, so he thinks he's dead too, huh. Tsk, I'm surrounded by quitters.'

Ignoring the Sergeant, Hodgens smiled at Violet. "Don't worry, Violet. He's the one that asked me to come here for you."

That part at least Noah could tell was the truth. His brother really did ask him to come. But why? The war was over; what use did he have for a weapon? His interest was definitely piqued.

"So then…"

An emotion passed over her face, the first one Noah saw to grace her pale features — relief. 'So she *can* feel; just having trouble expressing them. PTSD a reasonable diagnosis. That or she's just one really creepy girl.

"…that means that he's fine. The doctor told me that we won the war. What post is he assigned to now? When will I be able to join him?

It looked like Hodgins couldn't take the questions anymore the way he all but ran away from the girl.

"First, get changed. I'll have them send the car in the meantime." Hodgins turned to walk away.

"Hodge…"

The lieutenant paused before he could take another step and looked over his shoulder. Noah gave him a meaningful glance and Hodgins nodded before walking out the door.

So far, Noah's gotten more questions out of this entire enterprise than he did answers. He thought to rectify that, 'But first…'

He returned his gaze to Violet and found her staring right back at him. There was something disconcerting about the way she looked at him; how her eyes took too long to blink. A lesser man would have been cowed, but a lesser man, he was not.

He pushed himself off the wall and approached the girl, their eyes never leaving each other. Now in front of where she sat, he kneeled. "Your hand." He stated with a palm as if asking for spare change.

"My hand?"

"Give."

She hesitated, but eventually placed her bandaged digits in the centre of his glove. Their touch *clinked* against each other.

He was no sentimental person by any means, but he wasn't a monster either, and right then, despite his brother's warning, he felt sorry.

'Automail.' His brows drew together as his *arm* remembered the pain.

The man stood up suddenly and Violet followed the motion with her eyes. He looked conflicted for some reason. Then he turned to follow Lieutenant Hodgins out. 'What a curious man.' Violet thought.

It did not escape Noah how that had been the perfect moment to interrogate the weapon; to alleviate some of the questions he had burning inside his mind, but… when he saw her; saw how broken she was…

Noah stopped in the middle of the hall, his right hand going up to massage his left shoulder.

…he just couldn't do it.

Noah shook his head refusing to admit that he'd gotten soft on the girl. 'She can wait.' He had more questions to ask Hodgins, anyway.

* * *

Just outside the hospital's entrance stood Hodgins, and soon enough, Noah as well, both gazing into the beautiful countryside, but not really appreciating the view.

"You have questions, I'm sure."

"How did you figure? Was it when you said that my brother sent you here, or is it the fact that you're here at all?"

Hodgins let the early morning breeze be his answer.

"Did he really send you, Hodge…" Noah was almost too scared to ask, "my brother?"

"…Yes, he did."

Hope blossomed inside Noah, but before he got too invested, he made sure, "How could a missing man give you orders?"

Though one might think that emotions kept the Lieutenant from answering right away, in actuality, it was because he was choosing his words carefully, and Noah could tell because the man was *bad* at poker.

"It was the night before he d- went missing," He corrected when he saw, in the corner of his eye, the young sergeant tense. "He came to my tent and asked me that, after the war, I take Violet in; give her a new life outside the combat zone."

Now, why would his brother ask that? "This girl seems very attached to Gilbert. Tell me, was the feeling mutual? Were they lovers, perhaps?"

The red-haired man looked appalled. "What? No! Violet's only fourteen, for god's sake."

Noah simply shrugged. "People have been known to marry a lot younger, so why not?"

"Jeez, you really believe that?"

Noah shrugged again.

"Ah-" What was he expecting really? This was *Gilbert's* kid brother after all. "Heh. Noah… You never change, do you?" Hodgens shook his head as he smiled.

The younger man grinned mischievously in return. "Hm? And why would I do a silly thing like when I'm pretty much perfect as is?"

The two belted out a hearty laugh, and from behind, they looked just like two old friends simply catching up on each other's lives, and in a way, they were. But that wasn't all there was to it; they were both military men, after all. They each had their own agendas they must see to.

Their laughter passed, and it was straight back to being professional.

"How did you know that the weapon was here, Hodgins?" Taken off-guard, Noah saw the Lieutenants do one of his many tics, and that was pocketing his hands when he was about to bluff, aka: lie.

'Either that or he doesn't like me calling Violet a "Weapon".'

"If I'm not mistaken, the only one who knew about this place and her whereabouts was Dietfried."

"One of Gilbert's informants told me." The Lieutenant answered quickly.

Too quickly.

"I see. And who gave you permission to retrieve the weapon?" There it was again, a twitch of the hands, 'Definitely doesn't like me calling her a weapon. Tic attributes a sort of emotional connection to the girl. Fascinating.'

"Gilbert-"

"—Gilbert is *missing in action*. Gilbert can *not* give you orders, Hodge," Noah began to frown, "and even if he did, he doesn't have the authority to allocate military assets to non-military personnel."

The way he scratched his cheek as if embarrassed remembering only now to tell him something important irked Noah in ways he could not explain. If he planned to keep using his brother to cover up his lies, then the least he could do was put a little more effort into it. "Ah, because you see, he, that is, Gilbert-"

"—Why are you really here Claudia?" Like a switch, his voice turned cold, alerting Hodgins that it was no longer his friend's little brother he was talking to, but the Sergeant Inquisitor that many in the rank and file had come to know and fear. "Now I really want to believe that brother sent you, I really do, because that means for once in all his years of service, he had finally asked something for himself without having to be ordered to, but we both know that the world just ain't daisy like that. So, no, I don't believe you. In fact, I'd sooner believe that some other officer sent you here to take the weapon for themselves-"

"—That's not!-"

"—and you, if you really want me to believe that you'd do something *purely* out of the goodness of your heart then you SHOULDN'T HAVE LET GILBERT TAKE THAT GARRISON WHEN IT WAS OBVIOUS IT WAS A TRAP!"

The wind stilled as the shout echoed over the glade the hospital stood over, and it was as if nature itself had become too timid that it darest not disturb the scorned soldier.

What Noah said cut deep into Hodgins, and though it had already been a moment, the shout rattled yet within his bones. His ever-present guilt began to eat at the Lieutenant. "I-I'm sorry, Noah, truly I am, for what happened to your brother. I won't hold it against you if you blamed me. Hell, I blame myself…" Then his eyes lifted from being downcast to stare determinedly at Noah, "but I didn't lie when I said that Gilbert sent me to take Violet away from all this, and I intend to do just that."

Didn't lie about that, yes, but what the Lieutenant didn't know was that he had inadvertently admitted to lying about everything else.

Noah sighed patiently. He was so easy to read it wasn't even funny. "Fine, if you're gonna stick with that story then I'm sorry to break it to you, but you're not taking Violet anywhere without my say-so."

"What?"

"You see, unlike you, I was given *actual* orders by the admiral himself to take Violet under my wing, and I see no reason why I should hand her over to you." Noah never felt comfortable pulling out the Dietfried-told-me-so card, but if Hodgins kept being stubborn then he forced his hand, "So what can you do to change my mind?

Hodgins was looking at his shoes again, thoroughly conflicted. "I see… I will take my leave then."

That was it? He was just going to give up after adamantly proclaiming he was going to take Violet away? Oy'vey. "That wasn't a rhetorical question, Hodgins."

Hodgins paused in his departure. "What?"

"What can you do to change my mind?" He restated, and this time, Noah made sure to make it sound like a question.

Getting it now, Hodgins eagerly asked, "Well, what do you want?"

"Information," Noah readily answered, already expecting the question.

"Noah, I already told you-"

"—*But* since you're so keen on keeping things a secret, I have no choice but to find out for myself. So here's the deal."

The older man gulped in trepidation.

"You can take Violet, but under the condition that you bring me along with you. Where she goes, I go. Capiche?"

* * *

I wanted to give you guys the first two chapters to get a feel of whether or not I should continue this story. So let me know in the reviews.

And if you want to know what Noah looks like, just visit my DeviantArt page under the same username.


	3. A Wrote for Evergarden

A Wrote for Evergarden

"Why did you choose the puppy?"

"Because the Major's brother once told me, "You are actually just like Gilbert's dog."

* * *

If anyone had ever asked about the eldest Bougainvillea, guaranteed, Noah would have been the first one to say that Dietfried was a piece of garbage human being and that was saying something coming from him. But even if he was trash, Noah knew that his brother wasn't a hateful person.

No, their dad didn't count. Their dad was just different levels of garbage, so Noah got why Dietfried would hate the guy. Generally, however, useless emotions such as spite or resentment, Dietfried believed, was a waste of time and was far beneath him. It was offhanded comments like Violet's, however, that made him question his brother's objectivity; made him wonder why did his brother seem to hate this particular person. What had she done that affected even the stoic Admiral?

'Who are you, Violet?' Noah was distracted from his thoughts when the car pulled in front of a very familiar sight, 'What the?'

"Hodge, I thought you said we were going straight to your place?"

"Yes, well, Gilbert instructed me to have Violet dropped off here. He trusts the Evergar-."

Without warning, Noah opened the passenger side door and got out of the car without waiting for it to come to a full stop.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing?" Hodgins got out as well to yell over the roof of the buggy at the other soldier.

"You drop off Violet. I'm goin' ta HC."

"It's 'CH' and you don't even know where that is!"

"Hwat'ever. I've lived in Leiden before; I'll figure it ou-"

"—Noah? Noah Bougainvillea, is that you, child?"

'Dahahahammmn it.' With his biggest, fakest smile, Noah turned back around to fully present himself to Tiffany Evergarden who was out tending her roses. "Hi, Nana."

Her garden shears clattered on the grass when she dropped them in favour of rushing the Sergeant and hugging him within an inch of his life.

* * *

"Doesn't it take three days from Enchaine now?"

What was he even doing anymore? The plan had so far deviated from what it was supposed to be that he was now sitting, having tea with his Nana, contributing zero percent to a run-on conversation when he should really be out there looking for Gilbert.

What the hell?

"Yes, normally I'd be able to return in one day, but the war went on for four years; it's going to take some more time to restore everything."

The lady politely nodded before taking notice of Violet's untouched teacup.

"Well, Violet dear, please have a drink."

Noah lifted an interested brow at how exactly the girl would manage that considering her "condition" and so, out of curiosity, did not intervene. He heard his Nana gasp but kept his attention solely on Violet's hands; how they shook with just the weight of the amber liquid.

"I'm sorry! Don't force yourself!

Unsurprisingly, she spilt the tea, and the lines on the sides of Noah's nose showed when he frowned in disappointment. '*_This_* is the weapon Dietfried warned me about?' Was this his brother's idea of a joke?

"Oh no! You'll get burned!"

Not the least bit concerned, "She's fine, Nana." Noah drawled before sipping delicately at his tea, complete with extended pinky.

"But her bandages, we need to cool them down quickly! Oliver, get some ice."

"Yesh, madam!"

'Ten years, Oliver still needs to work on that lisp. Aaand queue second gasp.'

Tiffany gasped again when Violet began taking off her aforementioned hand-wraps.

"It's not a problem. I cannot feel the heat." With her hands freed, the flexing of her fingers made the sunlight dance around the room when it bounced off her polished automail. "These arms are made of adamant silver…'

Noah whistled in his head appreciating the masterful work of metal. 'Whooo dolly, adamant silver. Adamant's rare enough as it is, but *_adamant silver_*… now there's something worth more than just a pretty penny.'

Not to mention, not something readily available at your local, everyday hospital.

'Whoa now, there's a thought.' He had to examine her arms closer if he wanted to find out who made them, but even from a distance, Noah could tell that her automail was made custom, not like his, all military-grade, and designed for mass production. 'No, her's look carved by freakin' Michelangelo. Something like that *has* to be made to order, and if something's made to order then tracking the manufacturer should be cake. Find the manufacturer, learn who's the buyer — probably Gilbert, but still, maybe they'd know something.

Something to keep him busy later.

"Can you come this way for a minute?"

Following the group, Noah found himself in the old study where he'd spent many of his younger days reading. Memories felt like it wove themselves into the very fabric of the room the way they tugged at the lapels of his heart, and when his eyes landed on a particular picture on the mantle, his metal arm throbbed with guilt. His eyes averted themselves quickly.

Nana offered the blonde a pair of brown, leather gloves. "I used these gloves when I was younger."

Hodgins smiled, "Those are quite nice. Try them on."

"What?" Unknowingly letting a bit of childish petulance seep into his voice, Noah whined, "No! Nana, those were the gloves I gave you on your birthday!"

"Oh my, that was over ten years ago, my child! They don't fit me as well as when you were ten years old! Also, wouldn't you rather that a beautiful, young lady such as Violet use your gloves again rather than let them sit in a drawer?"

'A beautiful lady, she says.' His eyes surreptitiously looked Violet over, making sure to do so from the corners of his eyes.

In the short time they'd spent together, Noah never really bothered to notice. She was just "a weapon to be feared", so warned his brother, but because he simply could not see it, was maybe why he found himself agreeing with his Nana that, yes, she was indeed... hauntingly beautiful.

*_Hauntingly_*? Really? Noah shook the thought away.

'Whatever. Anyway, she has a point.' An exaggeratedly loud sigh squeezed itself past his lungs, "Fiiine." He faced Violet, and though she looked dreadfully monotonous like she always did, her eyes were almost expecting — funny how he could pick that up. Noah crossed his arms, seemingly not to care. "Go on. Let's see them then."

Tiffany handed the gloves over, and had to disguise her grin of victory with a smile more befitting a grandmother.

And so with yet another sigh, Noah watched as Violet put on her old-new leather… with her *_teeth_*.

'Are you kidding me? That's full-grain, Bohemian cowhide for crying out loud!' The Sergeant's eye began twitching when forced to watch his precious gloves handled with such utter disrespect and regard. "Good God, woman, jeez! Come'ere you barbarian. I'll do it," he scolded, and then under his breath, "what, were you raised by savages?" He muttered.

He none-too-lightly tugged her arm towards him but noticeably became gentler when he saw her wince and stumble. 'Weapon, my fine ass,' the Sergeant grumbled. 'She's so tiny I feel like she'd fly away if I sneezed hard enough.'

All the while, Violet just stared at him in curiosity as he worked her hands.

"There."

The blonde girl examined her fingers and flexed them to test their range of motion. Satisfied, she looked back at the red-haired man and went on to thank him, "Thank you, Sergeant Noa-"

But Noah didn't let her finish, "—Call me 'Sarge', and don't let me ever catch you using your teeth on these again, is that clear, kid?"

Heels clicked together as she saluted out of reflex, "Sir!"

Hodgins snickered at their antics, and the resulting scowl from the other soldier showed how little he appreciated it. "Well I'm gonna get going now; I have to get back to the office."

A flicker of what looked like panic reflected in her eyes, and, again, it was funny how he was able to pick that up when no one else did. 'She doesn't want to be left here,' Noah thought, 'Why? I mean, I don't want to stay here either, but at least I have my reasons. What's hers?'

"Violet, be sure to listen closely to Tiffany."

"It's okay," The elderly woman assured him, "You don't have to worry about us at all. Think of me as your real mother, dear. You can tell me anything, okay?"

See? Violet was in good hands.

Tiffany had said the same thing to him a long time ago, and what was a thoughtless promise to some, Noah knew was a promise his Nana meant to keep. She was just that kind of woman: kind and compassionate; understanding to a fault; never withholding forgiveness even when he deserved none…

Noah's gaze fell again on the picture over Violet's shoulder when his mind began to wander into the past without him meaning it to.

****It wasn't your fault, Noah. There's nothing to forgive.****

His mouth dried and ears began to ring. Soon there was battle, gunfire, and utter chaos…

* * *

****Beckett, get up!**** Noah screamed.

****Sarge, enemy reinforcements inbound. They're trying to flank us**!**

****I know, damn it! Just keep those shields up! We're not going anywhere until we get these boys home!**** Noah returned his attention to the downed soldier and slung an arm over his shoulder, all the while, keeping his tower shield up to keep them from the hail of bullets, "****C'mon, Beckett, uuupsie-daisy; can't keep Nana waiting now can we-****

A whistling noise…

****Incoming!****

* * *

The sound of an explosion was enough to knock Noah out of his short flashback, and instinctively his hand went up to clutch his left shoulder.

'Ugh,' his head hurt all of a sudden, 'at any rate, Nana's more than willing to take care of Violet, so really she doesn't have to look so scared.'

"Yes, but I don't have any parents, so I don't need replacements."

Tiffany was slightly taken aback thinking that she might have offended the petite woman, so smiled and tried to explain that replacing anyone was not her intention. "Don't say that, dear. I had a son, but he was killed in the war."

No one noticed Noah wince.

"I can't become a replacement for your lost child."

The hurt look on his Nana's face was just so that it knocked Noah out of his guilt-ridden stupor enough to feel offended at the blonde, and he was just about to let her have a piece of his mind when he felt a soft touch on his elbow. He looked and saw the elderly woman shake her head at him.

Instead, it was Hodgins who spoke up, "Okay, listen, Violet, it's Gilbert's wish for you to live happily here. So… do you understand?"

Violet did not reply.

"Noah, will you be staying here with them or-"

"—No, I will be staying at HC as per our agreement." No way in hell was he going to live there what with the looming guilt and woman sized porcelain doll hanging about.

"Very well, and again, it's *_CH_*, Noah." Noah was starting to get on his nerves with his constant mistake, but still tried to be civil about it, "By your leave, Lady Tiffany."

The woman nodded her assent, and they were off, but before they could leave, "Noah" Tiffany called out.

The sergeant turned to be greeted by the pleasantly smiling face of his Nana.

"Do visit me again, and this time, don't let it be a year before you do."

Ow. He knew that she was just teasing but… ouch. Feels bad, man.

"I'll try Nana," Noah replied, but his tone was not at all reassuring, "Thanks for the tea."

* * *

"Well, that was-"

"—Awkward beyond a reasonable doubt?" Noah finished for Hodgins.

He let out a nervous laugh, "I was going to say 'pleasant', but, yeah, let's go with that."

Both men glanced back at the mansion looking more unsure than when they first set foot in it. "I know my Nana's a tough cookie, but are you sure it's a good idea to let her take care of Violet?"

"I can't say for sure. I'm just following Gilbert's orders. He really did want her to live here, you know, so much so, that he even named Violet 'Violet Evergarden'."

Now *that* surprised him, "He did?" Evergarden was a family name; for his brother to go and give her that name, he would not have done so lightly.

"Yeah. Maybe he thought that a peaceful place like the Evergarden house would help her cope with his-"

How many time did he have to say it? Noah was back to being annoyed now, "—He's not dead," he denied for what must have been the hundredth time right before the door to the mansion burst open to spit out a stumbling Violet.

"The Major…! Major Gilbert, why is he leaving me here?"

His surprise at seeing such intense emotion from the doll did not last long, and not soon enough, Noah was, yet again, frowning at the blonde, 'What is she going on about now?'

"Is it because I lost my arms and lost my value as a weapon? If I just trained a little, I'd still be able to fight!"

This with her arms again — Noah could only feel so much pity for her loss before even he lost his patience. "Lost your val- what the heck are you talking about? Because you lost your arms you think Gilbert would just throw you away?"

"Noah-"

Noah began taking off his brown, dust-devil trenchcoat, "—No, no! I'm done being shushed today," and roughly shoved it into Hodgin's surprised hands. "Now, you listen here, Goldilocks," rolling up his left sleeve up to his elbow, he showed her just how much he thought about her arms, "you see this? This here's the 'Mark IV Ignus Prosthetic Limb', tungsten, military-grade. Not at all like your shiny automail there which my brother *_gave_* you."

"Y-your brother? Major Gilbert is your-"

"—Now if you think Gilbert would just toss you aside after giving you those arms, then you don't know Gilbert."

"I…"

An eyebrow rose, curious at what she still had to say.

"I am the Major's tool, if he no longer has use of me then I should be discarded."

Noah looked back at Hodgins while having a metal digit pointed at Violet. "Mein Gott, was she not listening to a freakin' word I just said?!"

"Please do it… please discard me somewhere."

He returned his baleful gaze to the hunched over blonde and tried really hard to understand why she was so dead set on being thrown away. Slowly he began to see that perhaps it was less about losing her arms, and more of being scared that she wasn't needed anymore.

'Not uselessness; purposelessness.' Now there was something Noah knew a thing or two about; to have the one thing you're good at taken away from you. His eyes softened, "Hodgins."

"Buh- yes, what is it?" Claudia stuttered, not expecting to be addressed so suddenly.

"Take her with us."

"Huh, why?"

With a steely side glance at his fellow redhead, Noah responded, "Violet thinks her life's over because Gilbert's not around to give her orders? Well then, I say we give her some."

* * *

Past this point, we're going to start deviating from the script now. Hope you guys don't mind.

Thoughts on Noah? Think he's too tough on Violet?


	4. A Wrote for Her New Post

"Call me President."

'No kidding,' Hodgins had every right to be proud; his base of operations, though obviously a fixer-upper, was nothing to sneeze at.

"So, *CH* Postal Company, huh? This is your darling baby?" He whisteld in appreciation, "Have to say, Hodge, I am mightyyy impressed. Where did you even? The funding for this had to carve the ol'leather up somethin' awful. Who'd you stab in the leg for this beauty?"

Still sounding pleased with himself, Claudia replied, "All of it's out of my own pocket, actually."

Noah faced him clearly surprised, "Wait, you're telling me that *this* is all you?" Looking at the size of the estate, the down payment alone should have set him back a couple of years worth an army man's salary.

"Granted I had a *little* help from a friend of mine, but yeah, it wasn't easy. Had to sell the farm too just to get the renovations done.

Noah briefly wondered at who this old friend was before his ears caught on to the last part of what the President said, "You sold the farm?! *The* farm?!"

"Yep."

"Awww, but I liked that farm. I would've bought it if you'd asked."

"Well, I was going too, but a certain someone decided to go AWOL for the past thirteen months."

'Oh right…'

"Well, Let me show you two inside."

* * *

"Benedict!"

"Yeah, what's up, President?" Came a drowsy sounding voice from behind one of the shelves.

"You're supposed to say 'how can I help you, president'," Claudia corrected irritably.

"Yeah? So what do you wa- ow!"

'Holy hell, that was fast!' From standing next to him to smacking the blonde guy upside the head with a rolled-up piece of parchment *from behind*, he might add, Noah didn't even see how Claudia was seemingly able to teleport from one end of the room to the other (1).

"This is Benedict, an old friend of mine from the war."

Noah studied the newly introduced Benedict and narrowed his eyes at him. In his head, he thought that the guy looked like a sleaze-ball from the way he stood to his chosen hippy haircut, 'and what's with those pants? …and shoes? Those have got to be painful to walk in. Kids these days with their impractical clothes and freaky-deeky  
haircuts...' Noah frowned when he remembered his own age, 'Criminy, I sound old."

The frown, Benedict mistook as scrutiny directed at him. The postman was starting to feel very uncomfortable.

"The coat wearing gentleman is Noah Bougainvillea, and to his left, Violet Evergarden."

Violet only got her arm halfway her usual salute when she remembered herself and stopped. Salutes weren't how civilians, which she apparently now was, greeted each other. Her head tilted downwards, looking un-noticeably perturbed.

But, to his infinite annoyance, Noah did notice and felt yet again the bizarre pull to make her feel better. 'Maybe *that's* her weapon? To make you feel so bad for her that you can't help but-... hmm. That's quite frightening actually.'

Guns, bullets, knives, freakin' bionettes, anything that did not possess the firepower above a bazooka, his tungsten tower shield would stand uncontested...

But what of weapons you can't block?

Sympathy didn't care if you carried twenty kilos worth of armour plating. Sympathy did what it damn well pleased like it was doing now with the Sergeant.

Noah inwardly groaned before surprising everyone when he suddenly snapped his arm up to his temple and clicked his heels with practised discipline, "Sergeant Noah Marie Bougainvillea reporting!" He announced unnecessarily loud.

Violet stared at the Sergeant a good long while before doing the same thing, "Private Violet Evergarden reporting!"

Both Claudia and Benedict's faces faltered. "Ugh, you two... I said a bow would- nevermind."

"Your second name is Marie?" The blonde man snickered. Noah didn't seem so intimidating to him anymore.

The man in question still kept his arm up, however, knowing full well how much of a fool he's making himself look.

"At ease, you two," Hodgins played along just to put an end to the shenanigans. Immediately the duo dropped their due formalities.

Embarrassed with himself, Noah crossed his arms and leaned to support his weight on one leg, an attempt to look blasé over the whole thing even though he couldn't believe why nor fathom what made him do that. The look on his face dared anyone to comment.

Hodgin's did his best to ignore the awkward atmosphere and addressed Violet, "From now on, you will be under my employment. You are still very useful, Violet, and you could start right here. These are your new orders."

She looked around herself like she was upraising her new post. She nodded seemingly satisfied, "Understood."

Hodgins nodded as well, "Benedict here will show you the ropes and tour you around a bit. Listen to what he says and you should be fine." He turned, this time speaking to Noah, "I believe there are things you want to discuss?"

Noah grunted still not over his earlier idiocy.

"Very well, let's talk in my office."

"Later," Noah instead said, "I want to see a bit of the place too. Your boy here won't mind if I tagged along for the grand tour now would he?" He asked though rhetorical the question may be. Benedict was back to feeling uncomfortable the way the red-head looked like he was sizing him up.

"Not at all. Benedict, you don't mind right?"

"As a matter of fact I-'

"—Excellent!" Hodgins cut him off with an all conclusive clap, "I'll leave you to it then. Now, if you'll excuse me; I have to go to the bank."

Benedict had his arm out in a pitiful attempt to try and stop Claudia, but just like how he teleported behind him, the President looked like he just poofed out of existence with how fast he got out of the room, "Ah..." was all Benedict had to say.

"Ahem." There was an empirical cough if he'd ever heard one. His neck creaked to face the military pair and groaned at the extra work that was just dumped on him.

"Shall we?" Noah asked with a wicked grin plastered on his face.

"Fine, whatever. Follow me."

Noah didn't trust this Benedict with Violet as far as he could throw him, and with his automail designed for heavy lifting, it was really saying a lot. He wasn't going to leave Violet alone with this hippy until he'd done a thorough background check on the guy. It wasn't because he was worried about Violet, 'Hah!' No, that'd be ridiculous. He was merely making sure that his assets were not compromised, 'Yeah, that's it.'

"So here are the lockers. This one's yours. You put your stuff in here."

"And what about me? Don't I get a locker?"

Benedict frowned, well, frowned more than he'd already been frowning, "You plan on staying here a'while, Marie?"

Noah's face twitched with barely contained vexation, "As long as she's here, so will I."

This made Violet look at the Sergeant curiously, 'Huh?'

"Well ain't that just super. Fine! Here," Benedict walked off to the side and swung open the door there, "throw your stuff in here."

"That's a broom closet," Noah said flatly.

"You don't want it?" Benedict threatened in reply.

Seeing that he had little choice, no choice really, Noah relented, "I'm not gonna like you, am I?"

"Nope," he grinned. Satisfied that he won that exchange, Benedict carried on. He took out an outfit from one of the lockers, "Your uniform, put it on," he instructed Violet.

With slow, comprehending hands she took the meagre articles of clothing... then suddenly began to disrobe herself.

"Whoah, what the-?! Hold on!" Benedict covered his eyes but did not turn around. When he went in for a peek, he felt a strong grip grab the top of his head before forcefully being turned the other direction.

Noah's automail, though more designed to lift and push rather than to crush and bend, could exert a grip worth 23,000 psi, enough to pulverize granite.

Benedict's head was not granite.

"Ey, Fabio, let's give the lady some privacy, huh? No one here but us gents after all, right?" Noah squeezed (just a smidge).

"Alright, alright! I get it! Now let go of my head!"

Noah begrudgingly complied.

So he was right after all; he really was as sleaze-ball and-a-half atop a healthy helping of creepy pasta! No way was he letting Violet out of his sights now, not while Johnny Stilettos was out skulking. 'Note to self: work on having Violet relocated to another department that's far away from this one.

* * *

"Aaand that's about it. I showed you how to sort the mail. Break-room's on the second floor so... yeah. See ya later."

And so there were two.

"Well, that was helpful. Not very polite is he?" Noah asked but didn't really expect an answer. That's why it surprised him when he did.

"Neither are you."

Right, she was so quiet that sometimes he forgot that she could even speak, but that didn't stop him from feeling indignant, "Begging your pardon, but I wasn't if not the perfect silhouette of a gentleman, I'd have you know."

Violet simply stared at him the length of which was long enough to make even him feel self-conscious. Why was she starting? Did she agree, disagree, what? 'Speak damn you!'

Violet simply shrugged and went to work.

'She's just as much an oddball as the other blonde,' Noah Grumbled.

'Huh,' looking around and seeing no one but them occupying the room, Noah came to realize that this was the first time he and Violet were ever left alone together. If there was ever a time to interrogate the woman then now was the time.

But yet again Noah chose not to.

Why? His new excuse: she just got settled in; a gentleman would wait. Yes, yes, no need to tell him; even he knew how starkly imbecilic and cop-outy his excuse was. But is not man the master of his own procrastination? Noah did not give it a second thought. He watched Violet instead like he was prone to doing.

"You really take to your orders, huh?" The comment slipped out before he could catch it. Violet's hands stopped their sorting and slowly turned towards him. In his head, he couldn't help but comment on how even the simplest of actions, like looking over her shoulder, was ghostly graceful whenever she did it.

What? A man could appreciate grace if he wanted to. It's called being a patron of the arts.

"A good weapon does what it's made to."

"Uhuh," Noah sounded sceptical, "So, mail sorting?"

"No," her monotonous voice sounded matter-of-factly, "fulfilling the wielder's will."

Though it was not his intention, this was sort of an interrogation already, he guessed; might as well learn more about this most mysterious and bizarre maiden, "And who told you that?"

"Your brother," she went back to her letters, paused, then corrected, "the admiral, I mean."

She said it like it was the most non-consequential thing. She didn't even know how utterly confused she just made him. Why would Dietfried say something so dehumanizing all at someone that shouldn't even be worth his time? She was just a girl. Noah wasn't trying to defend Violet or anything; he was just honestly curious as to why.

"Dietfried..."

"Yes."

"How do you know my brother exactly?"

"He found me."

What the heck does that mean? "What do you mean?"

Again she stopped what she'd been doing and looked behind, facing him, "He found me."

'Lord, give me strength...' This woman really pushed all his buttons, the wrong ones. "What I meant was," Noah said slowly like talking to a toddler, "how did he find you? Where did he find you?"

Again he was the subject of her doe-eyed, lackadaisical stare. This time, however, Noah was determined not to be unnerved no matter how long the silence grew. Then after what felt like hours, she returned yet again to what she'd been doing, "I don't remember."

He would have banged his head on the table, but that'd be too obvious.


	5. A Wrote for Agendas

This must have been the fifth time he'd asked himself the question, "what was he even doing anymore?" It didn't take a genius to see that this Violet Evergarden was a dead-end right from the start and to know that was even more insulting because he *was*, in fact, a genius.

Right there in Dietfried's office, what he should have told him was to take his lead and shove it up where the sun don't shine. 'All this wasted time and for what? Nothing.'

So what made him go through all the trouble?

What made him go all the way to Leiden when it was rather evident even back at the hospital that the girl was just as clueless as he was? What made him stay when he could've jumped ship the first chance he got? Forget Dietfried and his orders; he never did care what his brother thought of him. And Hodgin's was less than likely to say more than he was willing to. After all, he didn't use to be Head Intelligence officer for nothing. Claudia might not know how to act innocent, but he could keep a secret.

So why? What's there to be in Leiden?

* * *

(A while ago)

* * *

"Didn't you say that you were going to the bank?"

"Hm? Oh, yes, I was. I just forgot something."

Or so he says. Meanwhile, as the sergeant was entering the room, Noah noticed Hodgins hastily hide something behind his desk. But to confront him now would make him hide that something somewhere else. Better to pretend he didn't see anything and maybe check it out later.

"Riiight. You just didn't want to hear that guy complain to you about Violet, didn't you?"

"Impressive. You are a detective."

"Only the best."

"Speaking of, how is she doing?"

"Fine, the kid has a bright future in the sorting business," Noah replied noncommittally as he looked around for a chair to sit on. No dice. There was a short stool in front of a typewriter next to him and a one-person couch in the corner next to Hodgin's desk, but that was about it. Trivialities such as those never stopped Noah from making himself comfortable in the past, however.

Walking over to the couch, Noah began to obnoxiously drag the thing around, the sound of which, the sound of the couch's feet scratching up his beautiful carpet, made Hodgins grind his teeth from under his unaffected facade.

"Ah, there we go!" Noah breathed out proudly before laying himself sideways on the couch, feet dangling off its armrest.

"The stool wasn't to your liking, I take it.' The president deadpanned.

"Naw, stool's fine. It's a fine stool. But between the cushy couch and the wooden butt-rest? Come now, Hodge." He let the words hang while smiling predatorily at the ex-lieutenant whose under-eye began to twitch. Noah merely stretched like a pompous cat, closed his eyes, and placed his hands beneath his head, "Mmmphf, 'sides, it made no sense to have such a nice couch way over there. What, you expect your guests to stand?"

Maintaining that flat tone, Hodgins tried to guilt him, "That's my nap couch actually since work demands I sleep in the office a lot and I have no bed."

It didn't work, "Nap couch you say? No wonder it's so comfy." Noah sank deeper betwixt the cushions.

If only he could strangle the younger officer, but no; he was his dearly departed friend's little brother, so murder was out of the question (also there would have been no place to hide the body). Alas, the tortured red-head could only sigh, "Noah, if your plan is to annoy me into giving you more info, I have to say that it is working really, *really* well. But I've already told you everything I know."

"Hm?" Noah opened an eye to look at the other man, "Oh, I'm not doing this for info. I'm doing this s'cus I'm bored, and you know that pissing you off's me fave pastime. See? Look. My chairs bigger than yo~ours, haha!"

Was it just him or was that the sound of his teeth chipping from the pressure of his clenched jaw? "Bored?" Hodgins ground out.

"Yeah, bored. You know, since alls' I got is another dead-end," Noah let out an exaggerated sigh, "got nothing to do now," and tried to look dismayed even though the sight of him lounging luxuriously on the president's prized couch told that he was anything but.

"Have you tried with Violet? Tried interrogating her?"

Now there was something he had not expected to hear. Out of everyone, Claudia was the last person he'd thought to suggest such a thing, and when he did, Noah could not help but sit up. "N-No, I haven't," his voice did not mean to waver.

"Why not?"

Why not? Noah's lips thinned as the answer eluded him.

"She could know something."

"She knows nothing and you know it." Why was he defending her?

"Oh, I do, but is it not your responsibility as sergeant inquisitor and chief investigator to chase all possible leads and make sure?"

Noah had nothing to say to that, and why should he? By all intents and purposes, he ought to have been happy; he was just given explicit permission to interrogate Violet by the one person he figured would object the most.

That in itself warranted questioning, "And you're okay with that, me questioning Violet?"

"Of course. Why wouldn't I be?"

"Well, I thought-"

"—Make no mistake, if you upset her in any way, you *will* answer to me," Claudia calmly promised as he placed his elbows on his desk and steepled his fingers together. Noah's brows, in turn, lowered the slightest of margins. "But I doubt it would come to that. I'm sure she would be more than happy to help you find the one she herself is looking for."

"And what about you?"

"Hmm? What about me?"

"Don't you want to find Gilbert too?"

Claudia was saddened that he would even ask that.

There was a long pause, the two of them just staring each other down before the bygone lieutenant leaned back on his chair and looked up at the ceiling in thought. He exhaled before speaking, "You still think I'm hiding something from you, Noah?"

Silence was his answer.

"Your brother... he was my best friend. If there was ever even a chance to bring him back, I wouldn't hesitate."

Noah didn't call him out because he knew it was true. To the Bougainvilleas, Dietfried included, Claudia might as well have been just as adopted as he. All of them would have done anything for each other—a fact they had tried and tested many times over.

"His death-" He raised his hand to stop Noah from interjecting like he knew he would without even having to look at the younger red-head, "Affected me greatly, and I knew if I'd never let go, it would never stop hurting."

When he sat up again, he looked Noah straight in the eye, "That's why I did."

The sergeant clenched his fist.

"I let go because I knew Gilbert would never want me to go on living in despair. Unlike you, I realized this."

Vehemently Noah declared, "I would never abandon Gilbert-"

"—I know," Hodgins smiled, "I know... Dietfried might have been the eldest, but you looked up to Gilbert." His smile was gone and in its place a pondering frown, "At times I wondered what if I'd never given up, would I have been like you: always looking, ever grasping, constantly in pain but... unwavering."

Noah's steely gaze slid towards the floor.

He knew he could have pretended that it didn't hurt having every lead he had had in the past three months be a dead end; could have pretended that, when he went to bed, it did not crush his hopes at night only for it to be raised back up by the armpits to stand again the next morning, but...

He didn't.

"I'm not as stubborn as you are, Noah. I can't do what you do. I know. I've tried. I... have not the strength," there was a kind of defeat in Hodgins eyes as he smirked listlessly at the wood of his tabletop, "but that doesn't mean I don't want to help those that do."

The strain in which he held his fists left and his palms could breathe again. Noah stood up abruptly and said, "I'm gonna go check on the kid. You'll let me know if you have anything?"

It was more than just a question; it was Noah finally letting go of his suspicions of him and he was relieved. "I will," Claudia smiled feeling the tenseness of the situation unravelling like a ball of tightly wound string. "Oh, and, Noah-"

The boy looked over his shoulder just as he was about to leave, door handle still in hand.

"Don't be too hard on her. Gilbert, he cared for that girl more than you know."

Noah paused but then 'Mm-ed' just the barest of acknowledgements before leaving.

* * *

(Present)

* * *

Hodgin's guessed right that to annoy the intel out of him had been his plan, to pester him enough and maybe he'd let something slip. Noah hadn't intended for the conversation to turn in the direction it had, however, and now he was full of doubts. Maybe Hodgins was telling the truth all along and that he was leadless after all.

Violet really was all he had now. There was nothing left for him here.

He breathed aloud through his nostrils. Now to look for his ward.

* * *

The sound of the door closing echoed in the empty room and Hodgin's smile slipped off his face as soon as he was alone. Taking out the letter he'd been reading before the young medic came in, he read:

Are they there? Do they suspect anything?

To wit Claudia replied:

Yes, they both are. No, not anymore.

* * *

**Thanks for the views and reviews guys! I'm glad that you all like how Noah's turning out. To tell you the truth, I was kinda scared at first to introduce an OC in a fandom that supposed to be solely focused on one character, but you guys are great for giving him a chance!**

**And don't be shy to share your thoughts. Your reviews is what keeps me writing this story, truly.**

**Also keep an eye on my deviantart page also under fellstroke. I should be dropping another drawing of Noah so that you guys can imagine him better!**


	6. A Wrote for Forgotten Interrogations

**Here's a nice long chapter for those who waited patiently! Enjoy!**

* * *

Heavy combat steel-tipped leather boots beat against the crowded Leiden street; its sound a frantic tattoo against the wall of noise that was Uldritch City Square. Four blocks, six streets, and two dead-end alleys past, Noah was reasonably out of breath but still kept his head on a swivel, searching for one most troublesome individual.

* * *

Earlier

* * *

"Violet?" Noah opened the door to the mailroom looking for his ward only to come up _Violet-less_, 'Huh, where the heck did she go?' He gave the room another once over in case he'd missed her somewhere only to garner the same result.

Exiting the room, Noah thought to ask if people had seen her, and lucky that someone did, the front desk receptionist. The sergeant did not like what she had to say, however, once he'd found out.

"She what?!"

"Um... She left?" The ginger girl noticeably shrunk as her head sunk between her shoulders at the sergeant's loud outburst.

"What do you mean she just left? As in go outside?!"

"Y-Yes. I saw her with a delivery cart so I j-just thought that she was okay doing... runs?"

"Runs," Noah repeated flatly. "So you're telling me that a small blonde girl you've never even seen before was pushing a big-ass cart out the front door and you didn't even think to questio- Ugh! This is useless. VIOLET!"

Blinking in bewilderment, the receptionist watched as the scary boy left just as fast as he came. The only sign that he'd been there at all being the front doors swinging closed as he burst through them not but a few moments ago. "Uh..."

* * *

Now

* * *

"Blast it all! Where the blazes is that girl? VIOLET!" He worried.

Hold on a tip... Worried? What? Why was he getting so worked up? Noah's feet stopped as all the nervous energy that fueled his pursuit left him not unlike the thin sheen of sweat that began to wet his brow.

'She used to be a soldier for pity's sake, Noah; she could take care of herself.' The sergeant leaned on his knees as he bent over to catch his breath, 'And so what if she gets lost? It's no skin off my nose.'

'But she's my only lead,' his mind would reason against him.

'So what? She knows nothing; it's obvious. To ask would be an exercise in futility...' Then a secret thought feathered seductively over his subconscious. This was his chance; he could just ditch her, ditch Dietfried, leave the mission and all of Leiden behind. Finally, he'd be back on the road to continue his search for Gilbert elsewhere... Anywhere. Everywhere else just not Leiden. He'd had enough of this fool city and all the emotional baggage that came with it.

But just as the suggestion was beginning to sound more and more appealing, his conscience—which, strangely enough, reminded him of Gilbert—thought to remind him:

**You will use her and discard her like the tool she is...** — Dietfried

**Oh… I was writing a report to major Gilbert. **— Violet

**...And under no circumstances will you feel sympathy for this woman, Noah Bougainvillea.** — Dietfried

**So how is the Major? **— Violet

**He came to my tent and asked me that, after the war, I take Violet in; give her a new life outside the combat zone.**

**He really did want her to live here, you know, so much so, that he even named Violet 'Violet Evergarden'. **— Hodgins

**The Major…! Major Gilbert, why is he leaving me here? Is it because I lost my arms and lost my value as a weapon? **— Violet

**I already lost one brother to that monster; I will not lose another.** — Dietfried

**Oh, and, Noah... Don't be too hard on her. Gilbert, he cared for that girl more than you know. **— Hodgins

**If I just trained a little, I'd still be able to fight!** — Violet

Noah exited the memory with a start coupled with a groan of lamentation, "UuuuughuhuuuaaARGH!" Oh, he could feel it; feel that headache slowly creeping in from behind to whack him over the head with a shovel.

Straightening up from his bent-over position, Noah slapped his face to quiet all the guilt-inducing voices inside his head. In the end, however, he could do nothing but surrender to them. "For Gilbert, I'm doing this for Gilbert," he huffed in acquiescence but finished in his thoughts, 'and because it looks like my brother has a soft spot for blondes half his age. Scandalous.' Noah did not pretend to be content with his decision.

But enough whining. It was time to work his magic. Noah breathed in slowly to try and gather his scattered thoughts, setting aside his frustrations for another time, and in doing so, brought to bear the analytical prowess that earned him the title "Sergeant Inquisitor".

'Think, handsome, think. What do we have?'

A picture of the mailroom surfaced in his mind's eye. Thanks to his time there with Violet, his near eidetic memory had little to no trouble remembering that dinky place of ink and paper to its minutest details. He recalled, 'Violet was sorting the mail and placing them inside letter compartments when I left her.'

Then he remembered noticing that some of the letters under "Local" were missing in said compartments earlier, taken by Violet if he guessed correctly. 'By the looks of it, the letters were organized to represent geometrical quadrants within the city so that mail would be delivered by zones for the sake of efficiency.' Now all he had to do was remember the letter compartments that were empty and what he should have is a rough list of places where Violet could potentially be.

Noah only remembered two empty compartments on the sorting shelves that time he was looking for Violet and, if he weren't mistaken, those were the Tepelipe District and—oh, lucky him—Uldritch City Center. 'Must've grabbed the letters in the compartments closest to her and just went straight to delivering,' Noah sighed again. 'Uldritch is closer to the post office so, if she's smart she would have delivered here first.'

With that done, next, he needed to determine where exactly in Uldritch Violet was. 'According to the receptionist, she left not too long after I went to see Hodge. And the time I've spent looking for her,' he quickly took out his pocket watch and checked, 'an hour. Violet's only five feet tall so that ought to put her stride length at around 2.5 feet. Factor that, the distance between CH to Uldritch, and the fact that she marches instead of walks; in that hour, she should be arrrooound... here, Meriadoc Boulevard.' Noah looked down the street to his left, "Walking reverse the house numbers written on the letters, I should run into her."

Noah already knew that he was an amazing man, a peerless beacon of inspiration to his fellow man, and though there were many other feats he had performed more noteworthy than this one, Noah wouldn't be Noah if he did not take the time to appreciate his greatness.

In less than a minute, Noah was able to deduce Violet's whereabouts and how to find her; not something the ne'er-do-wells in this boring city gull enough to call themselves officers would be able to achieve in a day.

'Damn, baby... I'm one smart hombre.'

* * *

Later

* * *

'And theeere she is~,' Noah singsonged, slap-kneed, humdinger-ed, and many other hoot and holler mardi gras expressions as, finally, he was able to catch sight of Violet and her little cart. What could he say? Being a genius had its perks, and how Noah loved them perks indeed. Honestly, was he ever going to stop impressing himself?

Noah's gloating cut prematurely, however, when his feet slowed and stopped moving altogether without him telling them to. It looked like he was entering observation mode and he didn't know why.

Why exactly was he staring at her again?

Whatever the reason, it was already too late. Observation mode usually meant- 'Pupils dilated. Breaths measured. Gait same as always,' yes, observations. 'She sure looks mighty comfortable for someone new to Leiden; serene even...'

"..."

Odd... Was that all? Usually, he had more in him than that. Now he was just staring which was wholly inappropriate considering he was out in the open not unnoticeable to all.

But even then, he could not tear his eyes off her.

What was it about this girl that he found so interesting? He didn't know but there was just something ghostly about her character that intrigued him. Or perhaps "ghostly" was not the proper word. "Eerie" maybe? No, that was just him being mean. "Angelic?" 'Oh, please.' Noah rolled his eyes at the thought though he would hesitate to admit if there weren't truth in the observation. "Innocent" then.

Still not the right word but it was the closest.

It was in the way that she carried herself: unsure yet confident, not hesitating but cautious like she didn't know what she was doing but wasn't scared to try what she calculated to be correct in that mysterious brain of hers, that fascinated him.

Maybe that was why? He stared because she was different. That's it, no other reason.

For the next few moments, Noah simply stood there as Uldritch went on about its business. His head tilted in curiosity as he watched Violet take letter after letter out of her cart, reading them, checking the house if it were the right one, then placing the one that matched the address gently on the ground in front of it. Rinse and repea-

—Wait. The ground? What?

He watched her do it again and that snapped him out of his bewilderment to be replaced by shock and panic. 'What is that idiot doing?!' As he ran up to her, her eyes noticed the movement and grabbed her attention.

Violet paused what she was doing, "Sarge... have you come to help me with my delivery assignment?"

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever. But more importantly, what are you doing?"

Not understanding the question, Violet looked at the cart in her hands then back at Noah in that unhurried way of hers and replied simply with no intonation whatsoever, "My delivery assignment."

"Yes, I can *see* that, but why are you putting the letters on the ground?" Noah asked in rising incredulity.

"...Should I have not?"

Noah honestly did not know how to answer that at first, not because he didn't know the answer, obviously, but because the answer was so obvious, or rather, should have been obvious that Violet not knowing the answer literally suspended Noah's thought processes. Simply put, his brain hung, eyes searching hers for anything indicating that it was a joke, a very bad joke.

There was none.

"..."

"..."

"..."

"...Should I have no-"

"—No! Violet, have you never heard of a mailbox?

"..."

"..."

"...Mailbox?"

Noah's tongue darted out to wet his lips that felt dry all of a sudden. Mouth slightly ajar in disbelief, he began to slowly understand just how patient he had to be with this one. How long had this girl been a soldier that simple things like that were unknown to her?

"Just-" He breathed out exasperatedly, "Just give me the letter."

Violet bent to pick up the letter off the ground and handed it to the sergeant. Noah flicked at it a few times to get the dust off before walking up to the door of the house they were standing in front of. Violet followed.

"Houses have these boxes with slits in them," Noah spoke as he walked, and both reached the door, "or in some cases like this one, just doors with slits in them. These are what you call mailboxes, and you put letters in them like so," he said while demonstrating what he meant by sliding the letter Violet had handed to him through the slit.

"I see...' With wide comprehending eyes, Violet took out another letter she had had in her pocket and examined the slit in the door, quickly realizing the correlation between the two.

'She's a quick study at least; meaning she's not dumb, just naive and inexp-'

The sound of another letter dropping inside the mailbox on the other side of the door made him pause... again.

"Violet..." He said, his diction slow and voice devoid of all emotion, "Did you just put some random letter inside that mailbox?"

"Yes."

The way she said that one word with absolute surety poked at something inside of him. That something desperately wanted to come out and strangle the blonde, but Noah was nothing if not a man of dignity and control.

"Might I ask why?"

"I was testing out the mailbox, Sarge."

His hands came together to be placed on his forehead as if to pray but were actually his way of keeping himself from screaming until his lungs popped (1).

As he was finally able to gather himself, he faced the wooden entrance, knocked, and stepped back.

"Yes?" A rather rotund and bolding person asked as he opened to answer.

Noah did not reply; he simply opened the letterbox beside him, took out the two letters, handed the appropriate one to the person, and said with every ounce of frigid calm, "You can go back inside now, citizen."

Which he did but not before giving the duo the weirdest look.

It was only when after the door was shut in front of his face that Noah asked, "Violet... please tell me this was the only house where you put the letter on the ground." He already knew the answer, but a man could hope.

"No."

Nevermind. Hoping sucked.

His head hit the door in front of him and it opened again, "Yes?"

* * *

Sufficed to say that it took them the entire morning and better part of the afternoon tracing back Violet's route in order to put all the letters in their designated mailboxes. It spoke of Leiden's ignorance how no one noticed the letters on the ground and decided to steal them. Or perhaps they did notice and just didn't care? Either way, Noah was thankful because the last thing that Claudia's budding enterprise needed was a lawsuit.

The sun was already setting by the time they'd finished delivering all the letters, and the whole while they were out, Noah's mood and its steady decline from sour to bitter was written plainly on his face. They did not talk, but just the same for him because he refused to even look at Violet. Instead, he walked ahead of her and waited for her to finish.

"Lieutenant- No... President, I have finished my delivery assignment. It was successful."

'"Successful," she says.' Noah turned around to see who Violet was talking to and saw Hodgins and his blonde lackey approaching them.

"Clearly!" Claudia applauded. He then turned his attention to Noah and smiled at him too. "Hard at work, I see. You two must be hungry after all that. Come on, let's get some food in you two, my treat.

* * *

"If anything, Junior here should be the one buying since he was the one who told Violet to deliver those stupid letters in the first place." Noah pointed out.

"Uh, I meant she could deliver the mail tomorrow," was Benedict's lame excuse.

"If you meant tomorrow then *say* tomorrow. You suggested she try delivering the mail then left. What did you expect? Why if I were your commanding officer and it was up to me, I'd have shot you in the leg for malpractice."

Benedict blanched, "M-Malpractice?!" He went to protest but thought to ask first. Hand over his mouth, he whispered to Hodgins, "Malpractice, is that a thing in the post office?"

Chuckling, Hodgins replied, "It's a thing in any field of work, Mr Blue."

"Y-Yeah but..." warily his eyes flickered towards the sergeant, "is he allowed to do that, shoot me in the leg?"

"Am I *allowed*? No, but do that again and you'll find out how little I care for the civilian law system."

"What the?! You could hear me from way over there?!"

Noah went on without answering the question, "Violet's never been to Leiden, and you go tell her to deliver the mail. What if she had gotten lost huh?"

"I wouldn't have gotten lost," Violet chipped in, the first thing she'd said since entering the restaurant.

"Yeahuh, sure you wouldn't. You didn't even bring a map!" The realization suddenly hit him just as soon as the words left his mouth. "You... didn't bring a map. How did you know where to deliver the letters then?"

"I remembered," answered Violet plainly.

"What do you mean you remembered?"

"There was a map on the mailroom wall. I remembered it." For a good few seconds, everyone at the table was just staring at Violet in astonishment, and the silence stretched out so long that she even had to ask, "Is there something the matter?"

"You remembered the entire map of Leiden after just looking at it once." Noah couldn't deny that he was impressed. It seems that he wasn't the only one with an eidetic memory.

"Twice." She corrected.

"Twice still doesn't make it natural for us normal people," mumbled Benedict with mouth half full of garlic buttered omelette.

"*Anyway*," Hodgins interjected. He was hungry too and he couldn't very well eat if everybody wouldn't stop bickering, "Violet, go ahead and eat."

"Yes, sir."

How Violet still had to be told to eat a meal she had so rightly deserved saddened Claudia, but he quickly shook it off to address a far more important topic, "You could go back to the office after you eat."

Immediately, Noah's eyes were on him and he could feel the question burning in his gaze. Better that he explained now lest he be grilled later on; he'd never get any sleep then.

"Uh, the Evergardens have agreed to take you in and have you live with them..." he hesitated as he nervously played with the shanghai roll on his plate, "...until you've become an adult, but it looks like leaving you at the mansion..." Claudia's eyes met Noah's then as he let the suggestion hang in the air.

When the younger red-head dropped his unwavering stare back towards his plate and continued eating, Hodgins knew that he understood what he was saying and that he agreed. Violet was too inexperienced to be left alone if today was anything to go by.

Benedict wasn't as couth.

"Yeah, that's a problem. Ow!" Two different pairs of footwear kicked him in the shins from both ends of the table. What preceded afterwards was Claudia and Benedict wrestling with each other though they tried to be subtle about it. They were in a restaurant, after all.

"Hey! I was trying to put it nicely."

"How was I supposed to know?!"

No one noticed how Violet stopped cutting her lemon fried tilapia when she heard what Hodgins said, but Noah did. He noticed the flicker of a lost expression on her face before her marble-like demeanour had the chance to cement over it. A spark of sympathy lit inside his heart for the barest of moments before he stomped it out under the heels of his boots. He had to remind himself that he was still annoyed with her.

"So she's staying at the office too?" Noah asked, and it made the other two stop their struggling and sit back down.

"A-Actually, I wanted to ask you about that. Is it okay with you?"

"Okay with me?" Noah asked, confused, "What does that matter? It's your post office." When his friend's toothy grin suddenly appeared on his face for no apparent reason, he sweatdropped.

Maybe he shouldn't have agreed so readily.

"You know what? You're right. Glad we cleared that up."

Suspicious.

* * *

"Well, see you tomorrow."

"And good riddance ya bum."

"I heard that!"

"You were *meant* to hear it; I was yelling!"

Hodgins chuckled at the exchange before offering, "I'll walk you two home."

'Twenty-six blocks of silence? Shyeah, walking sounds reeeal nice this time of night.' Noah faltered in his step, 'Wow, that sounded way too sarcastic even for me.' Was the day really, that bad? He began to walk ahead of them in the direction of the post office.

Not four blocks away from the restaurant and everybody except for Violet already felt uncomfortable with it being so quiet. Hodgins was the first one to crack, thank goodness, but out of all the topics he could have opened up with it just had to be, "So, what was the last order you received from Gilbert?"

Real icebreaker that Hodgins.

It surprised him, however, when she didn't even hesitate to answer like he thought she would. He was a good few feet in front of the two yet his ears piqued at what her answer would be. The way he turned his head towards them was barely noticeable from behind the high collar of his trenchcoat.

"He said, 'You have to live and be free.' And I..."

Her sentence cut short as if the air in her lungs had not been enough to finish it, but in truth, she just didn't know. The major's last words were still a mystery to her to this day even though she has had months already to dwell.

'His... last words?' Violet's lips thinned as the thought managed to slip through the few cracks in her guard. She pushed it to the back of her mind well enough but the doubt had already planted itself there. 'No,' she tried to uproot it, 'the major is fine.' Thankfully, she was distracted when the president began to speak again.

"You've... been in the army ever since you were a child. You've spent your life fulfilling your duties... "

He heard regret in Hodgins voice and suddenly, to Noah, the conversation was no longer about Violet. It was about him, them: Deitfried, Gilbert, and Hodgins; everyone who'd contributed to who Violet was and what she had become because of the three. Hodgins wasn't talking to Violet, Hodgins was talking to himself by talking *at* Violet.

He had never seen his friend look so guilty, Noah thought.

"However, you're going to learn many things in the future..."

Claudia paused under a street lamp, and when they saw, so too did Violet and Noah who had long since recognized that this wasn't just casual talk anymore brought on by spontaneity but was advice, a confession, and a warning all rolled into one pain-filled dialogue.

"Although, it might be easier to keep living if you never learned them... You see, you don't realize yet, but your body is on fire and burning up because of the things you did."

It wasn't an accusation. And if it was, then Hodgins was only accusing himself of the role he had played in forcing Violet to experience horrors no woman her age should have ever endured.

Noah knew this yet...

"I'm not burning."

An urge to protect, to shield her of the painful truth, welled within him, an urge that Noah did not manage to quell in time.

Violet didn't need to hear this; didn't need to hear that someday she would feel the guilt every soldier felt after taking a life, and that, unlike them, she'd feel it all at once. She didn't need that, not right now when she was just getting back on her feet.

"Hodgins that's enough," Noah ordered in the most commanding tone he could muster, but it was no use.

"Yes, you are."

"I'm not burning. I don't get it," frustration seeping into her tone could be heard as she struggled to comprehend what the president was talking about.

"No... You *are* burning." Visions of Violet inside a mock hall of justice were dredged up from the bowels of his mind. Hodgins still remembered that day when it was decided that Violet not be enlisted as a person into his and Gilbert's brigade because someone so young would never have been allowed, but instead as an armament, a weapon whose wielder had been Gilbert. "I saw you like that and left you alone. That's why, when Gilbert left you with me, it was my chance for redemption."

Noah's fist clenched and teeth grit as he marched towards Violet. Confession or no, he wanted it to stop.

"Someday you will understand what I said, and then you will realize for the first time that you have *many* burns."

The sergeant suddenly grabbing her hand and pulling her away made her jump, but if she were honest with herself, she was glad that he did. The things the lieutenant was telling her were just too much for her to understand, and by the expression on the sergeant's face, she didn't know if she even wanted to understand.

"Thank you, Captain Negative!" Noah glared at Hodgins, his eyes holding a promise that they would have words tomorrow. "Go home, Hodge. I'll take Violet."

The president did not object and simply nodded his consent. His eyes were still downcast but now looked like a great burden had been lifted off of his shoulders. With a sad smile, he addressed Violet again before they could leave, "I trust you know where you will be staying?"

"Yes, Mr Benedict told me."

"Good. Here are the keys. See you-"

Noah did not wait for Hodgins to finish his farewell before grabbing the offered item and pulling Violet along the path towards CH.

"—tomorrow." In good humour, the tired man let out a breath before shaking his head. He was finally able to say it, and he was happy that he did. All he could do now was support Violet. Hopefully, that would be enough to ease the stinging of his own burns.

* * *

The rest of the walk to CH Postal Company was spent in silence but not once did Noah let go of Violet's hand. He didn't even notice; he was just too annoyed with Hodgins's at the moment.

'Where does he get off saying those things to someone who doesn't even know what a mailbox is?' Noah griped, 'Was he hoping to get a rise out of Violet? Well, congrats; it worked just not on Violet!'

With Violet, however, she was just confused by what it all meant. 'Am... I really burning?' Her grip tightened around the sergeant's gloved automail fingers as they hurried towards CH.

* * *

Not soon enough, they had arrived and were looking inside the attic hands still clasped together.

"Where was it they said you were sleeping?" He asked as he looked down at the blonde.

"The attic."

His gaze returned to the aforementioned room, "Ah, so that's why he was smiling." Noah frowned as he finally understood why Hodgins had asked him if it were okay. Apparently, he now had to share his room with Violet as they were both promised the attic (separately). 'Stupid Hodgins.'

His frown deepened.

When he felt a tug on his arm, he looked down again and was met with Violet's questioning gaze. Only then did he realize that he was still holding her hand. He quickly let go and played it off by walking into the attic. "One room, one window, one desk, one chair, and, oh hey, whaddya know, one bed. I don't suppose you're opposed to the idea of sharing?"

"I don't mind."

"Of course you don't." If his face was any more deadpan, he could've used it to fry eggs, "You get the bed."

"And you? Will you be sleeping on the floor, Sarge?" Violet asked.

"Ha! You wish." A wicked grin carving itself onto his face, "No, I have something better in mind," he boasted just as he was leaving the room.

She had already bathed and changed into the nightclothes she had found in the closet when she heard a scraping noise getting closer and closer.

"Hop-pia!"

That scraping noise turned out to be the sergeant dragging a small but very nice couch into their room, "A couch?"

"Hells yeah, a couch! Ahhh~" Noah sighed as he sunk himself into his new seat. "Oh, and what is this?" Pulling the lever that stuck out the side of the chair, he was pleasantly surprised when, "Wohohooo, it reclines! Now that's what I'm talking about!"

Violet watched on wordlessly as the sergeant made himself comfortable.

Feeling her eyes on him, Noah coughed into his hand and settled down, "Get some sleep. I'm sure Hodgins has work for you tomorrow."

They both laid themselves on their respective beds (or couch in Noah's case) but there was no sleeping being done. Violet was still thinking about what the president had said, and Noah couldn't sleep because Violet couldn't sleep.

"Burning," he said. Surely if she were burning, she would know. Burns weren't exactly easy to ignore after all, and she was speaking out of experience. But still, the lieutenant said so. Why would he lie? 'What could the lieutenant possibly mean?'

"Don't think about it too much."

Her head turned towards the couch and her ears were met with the squeaking of her downy pillow. She stared at the figure that had his hands behind his head. The room was dark so she could only make out his nose and lips that shone in the moonlight, moving as he spoke.

"What Hodgins said back there, it's all just a bunch'a hoopla he tells people because he likes the sound of his voice a little too much."

Was it really? Violet wasn't too sure, but what she did know was that dwelling on something she had insufficient knowledge of would not help her in her current mission.

And the mission was all that mattered.

The face of her major flashed behind her closed eyes and she quickly opened them hoping to see him with eyes opened as well. Sadly, she was met only with the darkness of her room. Violet's heart sank as she lifted her arm up as if to grasp the fleeting mirage.

All the while, Noah observed her from the corner of his eyes. He knew then that he wouldn't be getting any sleep, not when clearly something was still bothering the blonde. He sighed deeply and with much irritation. Standing up, he walked towards Violet's bed.

Violet noticed the movement and her muscles tensed on instinct.

Sensing hostility, Noah spoke calmly but with authority, "Sit."

And she did.

"I told you not to think about it too much, and you're still thinking about it," he said while dragging the stool closer to her bedside to sit on. "So let's try something else, shall we."

She just stared at him, not knowing what he meant.

"Has anyone ever taught you how to use those?"

"Use what?"

"Your arms."

She looked at her hands and then back at the sergeant; shook her head no.

"I'm guessing they didn't teach you how to maintain them either."

Again she shook her head no.

He sighed again. This girl, honestly, he had never met a person who'd been dealt a worse hand in life. The sympathy he felt at the restaurant returned and this time it was harder to quash. "Gimme," He said just as he did at the Evergarden house, and this time, her response was immediate.

Placing her hand in his, Noah began rolling up her sleeve, speaking as he did so. "Before I could teach you how to care for your automail, first we have to see what model it is," he drawled half asleep only pausing to let out a cavernous yawn, "or what model it was based off of." He hm-ed after seeing her arm in full, "Now there's a twist."

She looked up at him in curiosity so he went to explain.

"I've never seen this archetype before. Look, see here in the wrist? You could see weave in there, metal strings that operate your fingers via an intricate pulley system. It's kinda like mine but with less moving parts to muck up the design, simpler, more efficient. Very well thought out, I have to say. Oh! And the material, you could tell it's aramid because, when you put it in the light, it turns from blue to gold. Which is perfect for your arm 'cuz aramid's five times stronger than steel-string and conducts electricity and heat better and-" He paused in his technobabbling when he noticed the subtle crease in her brow grow, "—you have no idea what I'm talking about."

He knew she would just shake her head again, and it was this predictability that made it almost endearing. He actually smiled when she did do it only to be horrified later when he realized, 'Good God, she's starting to grow on me.'

Shaking his head, he continued on with his lesson with a lot less eccentricity. They were like that through the night, him spouting off jargon, and her listening intently until the sun rose and Noah collapsed in his seat in exhaustion.

Well, so much for the couch.

* * *

The next morning

* * *

"Cattleyaaa, where's my cooouch?"

* * *

**1.) You guys know the "Bruh" sound effect meme? It gave me a good chuckle when I imagined that that was the sound made in this scene. Hehe.**

**Aaanywho, as always, it's really nice seeing the views go up for AWF! And BeaverNator, always nice reading your and everyone else's reviews.**

**Please continue showing your support for this story by leaving me comments. I really like hearing from you guys and what you think of the story so far. I know that the fanfic fanbase for Violet Evergarden is small, and I could focus more on my other stories, but I really like AWF and would like to continue it! Your reviews help with that. More reviews mean more views!**

**Don't be shy about critiquing my story or even flaming it. It's a learning experience for me as well. Also, what do you guys think about the way I drew Noah? Was he what you expected or nah? Do you want him to look different? Let me know.**

**Till next time!**


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